Supreme Court may take up same-sex marriage

Of the 10 same-sex marriage cases pending, eight involve the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.

By

Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience

Fri, Dec 07 2012 at 12:00 PM

Same-sex marriage proponent Kat McGuckin of Oaklyn, New Jersey, holds a gay marriage pride flag while standing in front of the Supreme Court on Nov. 30 (Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

The Supreme Court may announce on on Dec. 7 whether it will soon take up the issue of gay marriage.

There are 10 same-sex marriage cases pending, but the Court will likely choose two, according to Yahoo News: One is a challenge against the federal Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), and the second concerns Proposition 8, California's gay-marriage ban.

So far, the Court has been slow to determine or announce which cases they will address this term. The justices discussed the pending cases at their weekly meeting last Friday, but did not announce a decision, according to the Los Angeles Times. Dec. 7 is the last weekly conference prior to the holiday recess.

Eight of the potential cases in front of the Court involve DOMA, which defines marriage as between one man and one woman for federal purposes. DOMA also allows states to refuse to recognize same-sex marriages that were made official in other states.

One prominent DOMA case that legal experts told Yahoo News would be a likely candidate for the court is a suit brought by New York resident Edith Windsor, who paid $363,000 in estate taxes upon the death of her wife. Had the federal government recognized the marriage, Windsor would not have had to pay these taxes. She thus argues that the federal government is denying her the 14th Amendment right of equal protection under the law.

Meanwhile, California's Proposition 8 is ripe for a Supreme Court judgment. California's high court had legalized same-sex marriage in 2008, but voters chose to pass Prop. 8, defining marriage as between one man and one woman, several months later.

Proposition 8 has been struck down by two federal judges, citing illegal discrimination. If the Court decides to uphold those lower-court decisions, gay couples would be able to wed in California soon after the decision, expected by June.

South of the border, Mexico's Supreme Court ruled on Dec. 6 that a law banning same-sex marriage in the state of Oaxaca is unconstitutional, which could lead to national legalization. Currently, same-sex marriage is only allowed in Mexico City.

In the United States, support for same-sex marriage has been growing. A Gallup poll conducted in May 2012 found that half of Americans support the legalization of same-sex marriage. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, Maine, Maryland, Washington and the District of Columbia currently allow and recognize same-sex marriages.

Psychologists have found that opponents of same-sex marriage worry that legalizing gay unions will harm the marriages of heterosexuals. However, these opponents remain convinced that their own marriages are strong, a phenomenon known as "third-person perception." This psychological bias means that people tend to think others are much more likely to be swayed by outside information than they themselves are.

Follow Stephanie Pappas on Twitter @sipappas or LiveScience @livescience. We're also on Facebook & Google+.

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Comment: 1

JaxBass Dec 11 2012 at 11:53 AM

Good. It's about time same-sex marriage got legalized. To all those who think it'll lessen the bonds of current heterosexual marriage, how are you coming to these faulty conclusions? I'm still confused as to why celebrity couples can get 72 hour marriages or less-than-1-year marriages and then a divorce, but 2 men or 2 women who have loved each other for years can't get married. Or why the former doesn't disrupt the meaning of marriage... It truly boggles the mind. If you're not gay, why do you care

.... More

if gays get married? Thomas Jefferson coined the phrase "separation of church and state." Although we've become a more progressive country with time, it's crucial to remember the principles our nation was founded on.

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